For decades, prediction markets were a backwater, a science experiment.
In 2024, Shayne Coplan, founder of Polymarket, turned them into a multibillion-dollar business and a popular barometer of the political winds, cited by everyone from Donald Trump to CNN.
In so doing, he demonstrated a real-world consumer use case for cryptocurrency – and, some argue, a new model for news media at a time when the public has lost trust in traditional sources of information.
“Most people I know were checking Polymarket for odds during the election,” said Meltem Demirors, a crypto O.G. and early investor in the company. “You’re creating so much signal that you’re getting people who don’t care about crypto, and would never care about crypto” to look at the site.
This profile is part of CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2024 package. For all of this year’s nominees, click here.<
Go to Source to See Full Article
Author: Marc Hochstein
